Morning Birding Species List | January 7, 2020

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Tuesday, January 7, 2020, 8AM – 11AM
Weather: Clear and cold
Location: Hallam Lake and Marolt Open Space
 

Species Identified

Canada Goose Ring-necked Duck Great Blue Heron Belted Kingfisher Steller’s Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Mountain Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch American Dipper Song Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Red-winged Blackbird

 

Comments:

Highlights from this morning included a great blue heron roosting at Hallam Lake, black-capped chickadees that have begun singing their phee-bee song, flocks of red-winged blackbirds, a dipper with a small fish, and a group of ring-necked ducks resting on the water. We appreciated the open views when foliage is absent in winter, making birds easier to spot, as well as the backdrop of white snow against which the birds stand out and their field marks seem more clear. We enjoyed up-close looks at a song sparrow and a slate-colored dark-eyed junco through the nature center windows beneath the bird feeder. Additional highlights were meeting the new golden eagle that just arrived at ACES to become a teaching bird. The new eagle is getting comfortable with its home and surroundings as initial steps toward the long-term goal of being handled for programs. We also caught a quick look at a mink dashing and swimming at the edge of Hallam Lake before it went into a dark, shoreline alcove and was seen looking out of the shadows a couple of times. Our mini field trip took us to the area of the Castle Creek Pedestrian Bridge where we saw some excellent habitat with a few chickadees and a white-breasted nuthatch and heard a Steller’s jay. Today’s mini lesson was about Chris Hardman’s ECOlogical wall calendar, a poster-style calendar filled with nature factoids, including some tidbits focused on birds. The mid-valley mid-winter birding blitz date will be announced very soon, and the next Morning Birding outing will take place on Tuesday, February 4th at Hallam Lake. Join us to discover local winter birdlife! 

~ Rebecca Weiss, ACES Bird Guide 

 

Photo by Dale Armstrong